7 o 



RELATIONS OF SOIL TO WATER 



dition of consolidation. Metal cylinders, one foot in depth and 

 six inches in diameter, were driven into the soil to their upper 

 edge, and then removed full of soil for experiment. Successive 

 cylinders were thus filled down to five feet from the surface. 

 The five cylinders were then placed in a tank of water till 

 completely saturated. They were weighed in two con- 

 ditions : (i) immediately after leaving the water ; (2) after 

 draining four days in a saturated atmosphere. The results 

 were as shown in Table IX. 



TABLE IX 



WATER IN SATURATED WISCONSIN SOILS (KING) 



These results are interesting in several ways. They illus- 

 trate the different capacity for water of sand and clay, which 

 is shown in an exaggerated manner by the percentage by 

 weight, and truthfully by the number of inches of water per 

 unit of area. They show also the maximum amount of water 

 which might be contained in five feet of soil T . 



1 If the dry weight of a cubic foot of natural soil is known, and the specific 

 gravity of the soil is accurately ascertained, it is easy to calculate the pro- 

 portion of interstices in 100 volumes of the soil, and consequently the 



